Killing Live Rock

[jeffopentax]

My first tank i spent over an hour a day manually removing and filtering out hair algae for a month or so to get my first tank under control (tap water). It was just the water as my next tank of the same size I packed full of coral and fish with 0 algae issues. The only thing I changed was my water source.

Did you try gfo? Uh oh, I'm starting to sound like a certain member on here...


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[derrick orosz]

bought this today... the rock that was in bleach has been sitting out in the sun for a few days. not going to soak in some ro water with this added and change water daily for 2 weeks.

 

[Janice]

There were no chemicals or anything bad in contact with the water. It was only taken out of the tank because of the algae growth. So what would the concerns be about re-using it. Forgive me, but I am surprised that people have concerns about cleaning it up and reusing it.

 

[Janice]

bought this today... the rock that was in bleach has been sitting out in the sun for a few days. not going to soak in some ro water with this added and change water daily for 2 weeks.

Have you tried this in the past and had success?

 

[derrick orosz]

Have you tried this in the past and had success?

nope

 

[TORX]

Did you try gfo? Uh oh, I'm starting to sound like a certain member on here...


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This was about 7 years ago. Long before I knew anything and this site was only a few weeks old.

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[Janice]

OK guys. You all have me so confused as to what to do. I don't think there is anything wrong with Colby's old rock that grew a lot of algae, and I am prepared to use it again, but I do need a CONSENSUS on how to treat it since it has been sitting in old tank water for almost 5 months and covered. Please?

 

[jeffopentax]

OK guys. You all have me so confused as to what to do. I don't think there is anything wrong with Colby's old rock that grew a lot of algae, and I am prepared to use it again, but I do need a CONSENSUS on how to treat it since it has been sitting in old tank water for almost 5 months and covered. Please?

Take it out, leave it outside on deck or driveway for about a week. Put it in your tank and RUN GFO. I had a massive gha problem. One month after doing what I just mentioned, I have just a few frail strands here and there. I suspect in another month it'll be a thing of the past. It's simple, but it actually works (at least for me it did).


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[Janice]

Anyone else??

 

[Janice]

I should add that the rock will be going into a brand new 16g tank

 

[AdInfinitum]

The reason you had the algae problem was phosphates...that rock will have absorbed phosphates and likely had plenty in it when you started...that said, there is still nothing wrong with it...give it a good clean with bleach or pool chlorine...acid bath is optional (I personally seldom bother with that messy process)...use lots of GFO until the water the rock is put into stays at zero phosphate and it should be good...plenty of dry rock that you buy can have phosphates in it too so new rock is not guaranteed...people like the acid bath to strip the surface of the rock off to remove algae spores etc...but as long as you manage your nutrient levels going forward, algae will not be an issue at all.

The are lots of opinions out there...try to stick with advice from people who have had long-term success rather than going with advice that tells you what you want to hear.

 

[Janice]

Thanks. How long should I leave it in the bleach?

 

[AdInfinitum]

Thanks. How long should I leave it in the bleach?

You can't really overdo it but too short and the bleach will not get deeper into the rock. Overnight at least...longer won't hurt...then some good rinsing/soaking in fresh water...giving the rock a chance to air dry completely in a sunny spot is nice if you have the space.

Since this rock will be going in a new setup using prime is really unnecessary as time will do the work. Phosphates bound to the rock is the remaining issue (same with much of the dry rock you could buy) assuming you don't have the space to set up vats to cure rock...you could set it up in the tank with substrate.....don't add any food or anything that might start the cycle going at this point...just water, circulation pump and a reactor full of GFO (the safest easiest option for smaller systems). Leave it like that for a week or so do nothing other than changing the GFO if you start to read anything but essentially zero when you test the water with the Hanna ULR Phosphorous tester that you will rush out and buy now that you have realized that controlling nutrients is the key to making successful reef keeping easy...

If the water is still reading zero...take the GFO offline for at least a few days and then test the water...not zero...put the GFO back online and try again in a week...zero...Congratulations you now have the foundation in place to start a nice reef environment...add some seeded substrate from a member's good clean successful reef and you will start you cultures of bacteria, micro fauna etc...all in one go.

This process may take a few weeks before you get to the cycling state but will be time well invested that will pay off in spades in the long run.

 

[ColbytheClown]

You can't really overdo it but too short and the bleach will not get deeper into the rock. Overnight at least...longer won't hurt...then some good rinsing/soaking in fresh water...giving the rock a chance to air dry completely in a sunny spot is nice if you have the space.

Since this rock will be going in a new setup using prime is really unnecessary as time will do the work. Phosphates bound to the rock is the remaining issue (same with much of the dry rock you could buy) assuming you don't have the space to set up vats to cure rock...you could set it up in the tank with substrate.....don't add any food or anything that might start the cycle going at this point...just water, circulation pump and a reactor full of GFO (the safest easiest option for smaller systems). Leave it like that for a week or so do nothing other than changing the GFO if you start to read anything but essentially zero when you test the water with the Hanna ULR Phosphorous tester that you will rush out and buy now that you have realized that controlling nutrients is the key to making successful reef keeping easy...

If the water is still reading zero...take the GFO offline for at least a few days and then test the water...not zero...put the GFO back online and try again in a week...zero...Congratulations you now have the foundation in place to start a nice reef environment...add some seeded substrate from a member's good clean successful reef and you will start you cultures of bacteria, micro fauna etc...all in one go.

This process may take a few weeks before you get to the cycling state but will be time well invested that will pay off in spades in the long run.

Haha some great info that I had no idea about. Thank you so much
For the bleach bath, is there a ratio of bleach to water, and SW or FW?

 

[AdInfinitum]

Haha some great info that I had no idea about. Thank you so much
For the bleach bath, is there a ratio of bleach to water, and SW or FW?

Approximately 3:1 water:bleach but you can go stronger if you wish. Tap water is fine at this point (RO never hurts but unnecessary since there will be plenty of rinsing and time before the rock interacts with anything living). If you were dealing with a large quantity in a bin I would start the phosphate stripping stage in FW perhaps ph adjusted and do a lot of changes...but for a small quantity in a tank...do it in fresh SW don't do any changes just keep it topped up with RO so salinity and ph stays where it should be.

 

[Janice]

Thanks @AdInfinitum